Me? Thinking clearly?

I was just watching a bit of The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  I haven’t watched his show for a while and I truly forgot how much I enjoy his offbeat humor.  He is hysterical.  Anyway, in the opening segment of his show he reads tweets from viewers and answers their questions, very tongue in cheek.  One viewer wrote in to say they were getting married on Craig’s birthday and going to Scotland, (where Craig is from), for their honeymoon.  The viewer asked Craig for any advice he could give them.  He looked in the camera, tilted his head and with a wry smile answered, “Bring a hat!”

His answer made me laugh!  Bring a hat!  Sensible, but totally unexpected!  The clarity of his suggestion was stunning, and because of that, really funny!  Sometimes, my brain makes things so complicated, swirling ideas in my head that bump into other ideas, which cause me to go off in a totally different direction!  This, wear a hat idea, was so direct, so simple, it was perfection!

Two examples of this direct simplicity have appeared in my life recently and they both caused me see things with so much clarity it was calming!  Sometimes, my weird brain turns simple things into complex situations.  By clearing away the unnecessary debris and confusing side complications and then looking directly at the heart of the situation, things make so much more sense!  

I’m sure I have mentioned that Lauren, my precious daughter, is planning to be married this June.  Preparations have been ongoing for a year but are in ‘full speed ahead’ action now and the excitement and activities are building.  It is a fun, beautiful time and it is wonderful to know that she found the love of her life!   It is also wonderful that my husband and I love, admire and appreciate all the beautiful qualities of our son-in-law to be!!  He not only makes our daughter smile with her whole heart, he is a truly good, smart, caring, thoughtful man.  The love and joy he brings her makes our hearts full and we are so proud and so happy to welcome him into our family.

All this brings me to a situation that happened a few weeks ago.  While searching for a shirt to go with his tux, my husband, Dave, and future son-in-law, Alex went into Nordstrom’s.  My husband automatically went to the clearance rack where he found two shirts, one a bit too small and one a bit too big.  With sincerity, he asked Alex which of the two he should buy.  Alex heard him then easily and clearly stated, “Buy the one that fits”.  Wow.  With one sentence he cleared away confusion and showed Dave and I just how simple it was to do things the right way!  Why make a decision between two wrong choices when, if we just open our eyes, a right option is right in front of us!  Sure enough, not on the clearance rack, but about the same price, a shirt in the right size was sitting right there, just waiting to be purchased.  Alex’s answer was simple, it was perfect, it held no complications, and because of that, the solution was right in front of us.  All we had to do was clear away the unnecessary of what we didn’t need to find what we did.

The same straightforward clarity was brought to my attention at work.  I know I’ve stated before that I now, after years of all different experiences, work retail.  Well, in the course of my present position I am required to obtain emails from our customers.  After each transaction, I would previously ask, “would you like to give an email”, at which time most everyone said, “no”.  My email captures were low even though I truly did ask everyone. 

One day, our District Manager, Craig, was visiting our store.  Unlike Mike, our previous District Manager, when Craig visits it is productive, nice and helpful.  We look forward to his visits now, instead of dreading them with Mike, as we are now helped by his insights.  He brings clarity. 

Our company is stressing the importance of emails, as they are helpful in keeping our customers aware of our sales.  This knowledge is truly helpful to them as, if they think with simplicity; they do want to know what’s coming up because their children want what we have before we sell out!  Our customers’ knowing when our stock includes what they are looking for really is helpful to them!  However, at the check out all they can think about is that their in-box is full and it causes havoc.  Because of this our store’s email captures weren’t great and quite honestly I felt a lot of pressure for our low numbers since I probably handle more weekly transactions than any one individual.  Craig suggested, without lecturing and without blame, just with a smile, that I be simple.  Don’t ask for the email, just say, ‘email????’.  Simple, direct, to the point…and you know what?  It works!  Now everyone in our store does this and we were number 1 in email captures last week!  Amazing the turnaround that came out of such a clear, simple direction! 

Now, how to translate this into all aspects of day-to-day living?  Life is so complicated; there is so much to do and so many considerations to keep in mind each and every step of the way!  When thoughts jumble regarding all the obligations we have with people we love, people we work with, our time and our money constraints ~ it can all be so nerve-wrecking!  How to simplify?  How can we think clearly and cut through all the unnecessary?  How do we keep things on track and give everything the needed attention in its own time?

Simply being in this moment is so helpful.  Taking things one moment at a time, clearing away the debris that enters your head when thinking too far in the future.

I know I have to stop and think in the moment.  What do I need to get accomplished today, then break that down to what needs to be done this morning, this afternoon, this evening?  I know I have to prioritize, and sometimes I feel overwhelmed because EVERYTHING seems of such vital importance!  But, all it really takes is to de-clutter.  Just like I am trying to get better at throwing things away that are no longer relevant, I have to keep remembering to throw thoughts away that are no longer relevant.

Just like not looking at shirts in the wrong size and expecting that wrong size to somehow be right…or not making a request for emails so much more complicated than it is, looking at what is in front of me right now helps clear away the myriad of plans and activities that jumble in my head when I think of all that is coming up.  The jumble that keeps me from seeing clearly and accomplishing what needs to be accomplished! 

So, make things simple.  Clear away the unnecessary and get to the heart of the issue, and, never forget to laugh at the simplicity of life.  Like Craig Ferguson says, it comes down to when traveling where it rains,  “bring a hat”.